The Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Gombe, on Thursday, said it destroyed 681 bags of adulterated fertiliser in the state.

Mr Ibrahim Shazali, the new Northeast Zonal Head of the commission, told newsmen in Gombe that the exercise was in compliance with a court order.

Shazali said fertiliser adulteration was an act of economic sabotage, which hampered the efforts of the federal government toward ensuring food security in the country.

He stated that such acts if allowed to continue would affect incomes of peasant farmers who might unknowingly buy the adulterated fertilisers and end up not getting the desired result during harvest.

“The worst of it is that some bags of the adulterated fertilisers have inscriptions of presidential fertiliser initiative to make people think the fertiliser is from the federal government.

“They (convicts) print the bags, bring small part of fertiliser and bring in some limestone gotten from Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, creating an impression that this is coming from the federal government.

“This is exactly where the sabotage comes from. So, even if the fertilisers have federal government tag on them, there is need for farmers to make proper enquiries to ascertain their source,” the EFCC zonal boss said.

He warned those adulterating fertiliser, saying the commission would apprehend anyone involved as surveillance had been strengthened to ensure they were put out of business, adding, “we are still extending our investigations to Kano and Katsina states.

While calling for more information from the public, he cautioned farmers to always engage relevant agencies like Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) before buying fertilisers from the markets. (Agency report)

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